The London Guantánamo has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Human rights for all.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

In early September, the US military announced that it had closed the
notorious maximum security Camp 5 at Guantánamo on 19 August. The camp, built
in 2004 for $17 million, was used to house non-compliant prisoners and hunger
strikers, often in solitary confinement. A small number of prisoners who
remained at the camp were transferred to Camp 6 which now holds around 40
prisoners, over half of whom are cleared for release. The US military plans to
refurbish the camp and turn it into a medical centre, proving that there are no
plans to close the detention facility. The closure of the camp means that staff
numbers have been downsized too, by around 400 less staff, or around 1500
personnel to monitor 61 prisoners.

On 8 September, all initial periodic review
board hearings for prisoners not cleared for release or subject to trial were
completed. Hearings were held in September for Pakistani prisoner Mohammed Ahmad Rabbani on 1st September, whom some sources
falsely claimed was due to be released. Wrongly assumed to be an Arab, as he is
fluent in Arabic, he was arrested in his native Pakistan and arrived at
Guantánamo in 2004. He is still on hunger strike and while his lawyers claimed
during the hearing that he would like to return to his family in Pakistan if
released, the US military claimed he would like to be sent to Malaysia.

The final initial hearing was held for Saudi Hassan Muhammad Ali Bin Attash, the youngest prisoner held at
Guantánamo, aged 33, on 8 September. The US military claims he was a facilitator and weapons
expert for Al Qaeda. It also stated that he had been non-compliant with the
guards at Guantánamo. His counsel reported that he has always been found to be
a pleasant person and that he is interested in studying and receiving an
education upon release; he would like to be returned to Saudi Arabia.

Decisions were made in the cases of several
prisoners who had their review hearings in August. The board decided that
Afghan prisoner Muhammad Rahim should remain detained largely due to the threat
he poses to the USA based on intelligence he may have about possible risks to
the USA in 2001 and due to his refusal to admit any complicity and relationship
with Al Qaeda. The board also decided to continue the detention of Malaysian
prisoners Mohd Farik bin Amin and Bashir bin Lap and
Libyan Mustafa Faraj Muhammad Masud al-Jadid al-Uzaybi. It is worth noting that
all four men were subject to the CIA’s extraordinary rendition programme;
Muhammad Rahim was the last person to enter it in 2004. All have been severely
tortured in various ways, including physical, sexual and psychological torture,
at secret CIA facilities in different countries for years prior to their
arrival at Guantánamo. The US thus does not have an interest in releasing
individuals who could disclose sensitive information about the torture and torture
experimentation they have suffered at the hands of the US authorities.

A three-day pre-trial hearing
was held on 6-9 September in the military commission of Abd Al-Nashiri,
accusing of bombing a US naval ship in the Gulf of Aden in the 1990s. This
follows an 18-month break as the federal appeals court ruled in August not to
halt the military commission as it has jurisdiction to hear the case and that
any issues on the legality of proceedings could be appealed after judgment is
made in the case by the military court; the trial is unlikely to start for a
few more years. Various pre-trial issues of legality of the case and the
composition of the defence and prosecution, which has changed in the interim 18
months, were discussed. Al-Nashiri’s lawyers said they would appeal the August
ruling.

A brief hearing was held on 13 September for Majid Khan, who following
three years of torture at secret CIA facilities, entered a secret guilty plea
in 2012, the only previous time he appeared in court, amid charges of helping
to finance a 2003 terrorist attack in Indonesia. Sentencing under the plea
deal, which will see him serve a 19-year sentence, is due to take place in
2018. However, since his guilty plea (which is not a confession) evidence has
emerged of the extreme torture he faced http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/06/torture-majid-khan-guantanamo-cia-150621121344586.html
and the legality of some of his guilty pleas has been challenged, undermining
the deal made - the appeals court has since ruled some of the charges illegal. The
hearing was held to allow Khan to withdraw his guilty plea of providing
material support for terrorism which is not an offence. Further challenges may
be brought against his case and the plea deal made, although this could be more
prejudicial to Khan.

Former Guantánamo prisoner and Syrian refugee in Uruguay, Jihad (Abu Wa’el) Dhiab
has been on hunger strike since 12 August demanding he is sent to an Arab
country or Turkey where he can be reunited with his family whom he has not seen
for over 15 years. He was returned to Uruguay from Venezuela at the end of
August. On 1st September, he refused to ingest liquids and was twice
hospitalised and fell into a coma. He has since agreed to take liquids as the
Uruguayan authorities look for a country that will accept him and his family.
Turkey, where his refugee family is, and two Arab states have refused to take
the whole family. Dhiab was promised family reunification by his lawyers and
the Uruguayan authorities when he was released but it has never happened in
spite of repeat demands.
The LGC has launched a petition and urgent action for him:

Arrested in Madrid in 2014, former
Guantánamo prisoner Moroccan national and Spanish resident Lahcen Ikassrien was
sentenced to 11 and a half years by a Spanish court for terrorism recruitment
to a cell allegedly supporting the Islamic State militant group and
falsification of documents.

The September Shut
Guantánamo demonstration was on Thursday 1 September. The October demonstration
is on 6 October at 12-1pm outside the US Embassy and 1.15-2.15pm outside
Speaker’s Corner, Hyde Park, opposite Marble Arch: https://www.facebook.com/events/1079365352158863/

The LGC
(@shutguantanamo) is continuing to hold weekly #GitmObama Twitter storms to
raise awareness about Guantánamo prisoners every Monday at 9pm BST. The pastebin
is available http://pastebin.com/zpx5F7ab
which is updated weekly with the latest information and tweets to raise
awareness about Guantánamo. Please join us online if you can!

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Noel Hamel from the London Guantánamo Campaign reviews Yvonne Ridley's new book (out September 2016)

TORTURE: DOES IT WORK?

INTERROGATION ISSUES AND EFFECTIVENESS IN THE GLOBAL
WAR ON TERROR

YVONNE RIDLEY.ISBN 978-1-78266-830-5

Yvonne Ridley’s book is an extremely competent and well
researched interrogation of its title question. Yet, is there ambiguity in the
word “work”?Does torture have a
purpose? Is it for interrogation? Or is it for sadistic satisfaction, for
revenge, to intimidate and to spread fear? Even if it "works" for any of the
latter, does it actually produce intelligence?

Torture is ancient but it was outlawed after 1945 by
‘civilised societies’ sickened by the Japanese and Nazis. Many states queued up
to sign-on but still torture now. Prominent signatory states went ‘underground’
whilst denying they torture. The 9/11 attacks caught the lame rookie president,
George Bush, off-balance. To ‘restore’ the image of the presidency, draconian revenge stunts were planned embracing
wars and high profile torture. Totally
innocent people were seized to appease US electorate expectations of decisive
action. 5000 were detained, justified by concocted personalised ‘terrorism’
myths. Under instruction to “soften up” prisoners, armed forces and
‘intelligence’ agents were emboldened to abuse, torture, injure and humiliate
victims in every way possible. Lawyers devised inventive justifications for torture,
pretending it was legal and legitimate. The UK fawningly colluded and has
expensively ‘bought-off’ legal challenges, avoiding scrutiny. But why do it at
all? Revenge and propaganda were motivations but is there more?

For years the USA invested millions of dollars in training torturers. Now
they were employed for “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” - torture redefined
by lawyers. ‘Professional’ torture was overseen by medical professionals to avoid permanent
injury but even so boundaries were stretched. Below the radar servicemen and
women tortured and abused without restraint. Death and injury were not
uncommon. Other torturers worked secretively at ‘black’ sites and in states
where torture is routine. Victims were secretly flown round the globe with
covert international cooperation. Guantánamo was an artificial extralegal
construct where ‘anything goes’.

If the intent was intelligence gathering from victims, since
most clearly lacked any useful information, torturing for intelligence was futile.
Under torture false admissions are common. ‘Admissions’ about other people come
easily compared to anything personally incriminating. The torturers filed third
party stories as if they were evidence. Torturers were obsessed with Osama bin
Laden’s whereabouts but got nowhere. He was found by basic surveillance. Torture
advocates cite the “ticking time bomb” justification; thwarting a devastating attack
in the nick of time by extracting, through torture, information to disable a
bomb; but that didn’t remotely resemble any US torture scenario.

Ibn Sheikh al-Libi
was shunted between sites and gruesomely tortured, particularly in Cairo. He invented
stories about a ricin plot in London, Saddam Hussein working with Osama bin
Laden and weapons of mass destruction shared with terrorists – justification
for the Iraq war – to get some relief. Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
were intensively tortured by Bush approved CIA techniques. Both invented far-fetched
terror plots, keeping agents busily checking to forestall possible attacks. The
announced discovery of the ‘dirty bomb plot’ by Attorney General John Ashcroft
in 2002 is notorious. According to him CIA interrogation (torture) saved New Yorkers from devastating radiation exposure to
be dispersed by an explosive device. Jose Padilla, held three and a half years
in solitary confinement without due process, was cleared for lack of credible
evidence. That and the London ricin plot were hoaxes.

Advocates of torture claim torture produces vital
intelligence but say national security prevents disclosure. Yvonne interviewed
victims who all say torture is futile, gratuitous barbarity. Add to that the
self-inflicted image damage of barbarity and utter hypocrisy, the licence given
to other states, corrupt governments, dictators, tyrants and terrorist groups.
Torture by the USA and allies is a recipe for world-wide regression. Thanks a
lot George Bush!

Anyone who thinks torture might possibly be a useful tool
in warfare and to combat terrorism should read this well researched and considered
book.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Jihad
Ahmed Mustafa Dhiab, 45, spent 12 years at Guantánamo without charge or
trial. Cleared for release in 2010, he was eventually released to Uruguay as a
Syrian refugee with five others in December 2014.

In 2013,
Dhiab (also known as Abu Wa’el Dhiab, or Diyab) took part in the mass hunger
strike involving the majority of prisoners, and remained on hunger strike until
his release. As a result, he was very weak and underweight when released and
continues to walk on crutches.

He was
beaten, placed in solitary confinement and subject to force feeding by nasal
tube at Guantánamo while on hunger strike. He sued the US government to force
them to stop force feeding him in a manner the UN has stated is tantamount to
torture. A judge has ordered that videos showing the brutal way in which Dhiab
was tortured are disclosed; the court case is ongoing and the US government is
fighting tooth and nail to prevent their disclosure. In recent weeks it has
claimed that such disclosure could aid terrorists; in truth, it would be hugely
embarrassing to the US government.

Adapting to
life in Uruguay as refugees and survivors of torture has not been easy for
Dhiab and the other former prisoners. As well as isolation, media demonisation,
destitution and an inability to speak Spanish, a key issue for Dhiab has been
reunification with his family, some of whom remain in war-torn Syria and others
who are currently refugees in Turkey.

The
Uruguayan government has promised on numerous occasions to bring them to
Uruguay. This has not happened and Dhiab would not be able to host them on a
meagre stipend he receives and which is due to run out at the end of the year.
He has instead demanded he is sent to Turkey or any Middle Eastern country that
will accept him and his family.

In June
Dhiab briefly disappeared from Uruguay. The media deliberately and wrongly
claimed he had travelled to Brazil and was planning to sabotage the Olympic
Games in Rio. Instead, he reappeared at the Uruguayan Embassy in Venezuela in
July and again demanded to be sent to Turkey to be with his wife and children.
Upon leaving the embassy, he was arrested and held incommunicado by the
Venezuelan authorities who denied him access to his lawyer, effectively holding
him as he was held at Guantánamo. He was returned to Uruguay in late August.

Dhiab has been on hunger strike since 12th
August and has refused liquids since 1st September. He has been
hospitalised twice and on 14th September was in a coma for over 9
hours. He is demanding to be sent to Turkey or any other Middle Eastern country
which will accept them where he can live peacefully with his wife and children.
The Uruguayan authorities are currently trying to find such a country but claim
it is proving difficult.

It is
inevitable that the US is also involved; the pressure on Dhiab is clearly a
dimension of the US’ efforts to force Dhiab to give up his lawsuit in the US.
The right to family life is a human right.

2) Send an
individualised letter (in English or Spanish) to the President of Uruguay
demanding:

- the
Uruguay government takes immediate steps to find a safe third country for Dhiab
and his family to be resettled together

- the
Uruguay government provides him with the resources to make this happen

A draft
letter is provided below:

Your
Excellency,

I am writing
to you concerning Mr Jihad Ahmed Mustafa Dhiab, a Syrian refugee in your
country who was previously held without charge or trial by the United States at
Guantánamo Bay for over 12 years. Mr Dhiab has been on hunger strike since August in protest at the fact that almost two years since his release he has
not been reunited with his family in spite of repeat promises.

Since family
reunification in Uruguay does not appear to be feasible, I urge you to take
urgent measures to send Mr Dhiab to a Middle Eastern or Arab country where he
can live peacefully together with his family, who are also refugees. Mr Dhiab
has been in a coma and has been hospitalised several times. His situation is
worsening. I therefore urge to look into and resolve this as a matter of
urgency.

Take action!

We hold a regular monthly demonstration calling for the closure of Guantánamo Bay. Our March demonstration is on Thursday 8 March at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy, 33 Nine Elms Ln, London SW11 7US: https://www.facebook.com/events/975903689224552/

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About Me

The London Guantánamo Campaign has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Also on Facebook and Twitter.